No word on contract from Suh or Lions as minicamp ends

The Lions ended their mandatory minicamp on Thursday, which means that defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh will next be with the team when they start training camp.

Will he have a new contract extension when it comes time to report? Suh didn’t speak to reporters after the end of minicamp, so we can’t know his feelings about the pace or tenor of negotiations. Lions coach Jim Caldwell did meet with the media, but his answer didn’t tell us much more about the Lions’ feelings at this point in the process.

“I think the way in which this game is, every year is going to be a little bit different,” Caldwell said, via the Detroit News. “Not the first guy that’s gone through a contract negotiation and it won’t be the last. I think those things, [General Manager] Martin [Mayhew] and [team president] Tom [Lewand] and those guys and ownership, will do a tremendous job. What I have to do is stay focused on what’s happening out there on the field and get our guys ready to play.”

There’s been no word from either side about a deadline to cease negotiations before the 2014 season nor has there been much discussion about how talks are going. We can infer from the lack of an agreement that the two sides haven’t found a middle ground yet and that should keep Suh’s contract on plenty of minds in Detroit as the season approaches.